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3 Surefire Signs That Your Company Website Is Obsolete

by staff on April 29, 2012
Request for Quote

A decade ago, I remember being told that the Internet was just a fad used by tech fans, kids and computer geeks. If you wanted a business to make money, my colleagues said, nothing would replace the traditional brick and mortar model anytime soon. In short, selling to and servicing clients online was trendy and cool, but phone calls, faxes and face-to-face business was where the money was.

Today, of course, a company without a website or an online presence is almost unheard of. Businesses today – large or small, service or product-oriented - all use the Internet to identify, reach, persuade and service both new and existing customers. You have no doubt jumped on the bandwagon yourself, but are you getting the most out of the technology?

Fifteen years ago, having a website at all, with maybe a contact form and some information about your products and services, was pretty impressive. You were on the cutting edge. Today, however, Web-savvy customers expect much more.

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9 Tips to Cut Return Costs

by staff on March 5, 2012
Frustrated

Unfortunately, it happens from time to time. You inspect your newly acquired material handling equipment and find that it has been damaged, probably during shipping. It won’t do the job and it’s not worth what you paid for it. It will have to be returned.

Of course, this means a delay in getting your new material handling system up and running. It means fights with the supplier and the trucking company over who is responsible for the problem and who is going to pay to get the damaged shipment off your premises. In short, this is going to cost you time – and maybe money – that you don’t have to spare.

Fortunately, there are ways that you can reduce the chances of finding yourself in this situation, and reducing the time and money it will cost you if you do. Some of them are policies you can adopt in your organization. Some of them are things you can insist on from your supplier. Let’s start with you.

Customer policies

Inspect the merchandise carefully before you buy.

If you can’t go to the supplier’s location yourself, ask for photographs. Define an acceptable level of dents and scratches for used equipment, and decide whether or not there are any flaws that would compromise the performance of the equipment. Keep a record of the state of the equipment at the time of purchase, so that you can prove that any other damage took place after you signed the contract.

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Auction Buying Demystified ( part 3 )

by staff on February 8, 2012
Fine Print

Auction Buying Demystified ( part 3 )

An Insider’s Guide to the parlor tricks auctions use to separate you & your money.

In my previous two articles on auction buying secrets, I have exposed the common ways that auction houses get the pigeons to part with their money and actually buy (some of) the junk they are selling. In part three, I’ll discuss some common practices that I have come to rely on that usually drastically increase my chances at paying less and getting more.

Tip #1: The Devil is in the Details

Every auction starts and ends with paperwork. 99% of all of the people at the auction never read the fine print at the bottom of the terms and conditions of bidding at registration time. These terms will lay out ALL of the costs that will be associated with bidding on and purchasing items at this particular auction. Extra expenses that most auctions include that will be tacked on over and above your winning bid prices can include but are not necessary limited to:

  • Sales tax (This can be an additional 3 to 13%.)
  • Buyers premium (Often 10% to 15% or more)
  • Removal fees
  • Loading fees
  • Security Fees

Many of the details that will affect what you can afford to bid will be determined by what is in those terms and conditions. It’s vital that you think through these details before you even bid as they can greatly increase the cost of the equipment to much more than it’s worth.

Points to think about:

  • Is the equipment being auctioned still standing/installed?
  • If so, Who will be responsible for the removal?
  • If it’s you, the buyer, what will it cost to get it removed?
  • Is there a deadline for removal?
    • If so – what are the penalties or consequences if it’s not removed within before the deadline?
    • Will you lose ownership of the material?
    • Will you be fined?
    • Will it be removed for you at an exorbitant expense that you will be responsible for?
  • Can you remove it yourself or must you use a pre-designated removal crew?
    • If so – what will they charge?
    • Do they have to be certified? Union?
  • When, with whom, and how will you remove and/or load the equipment?
    • What expenses will that entail?

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    Auction Buying Demystified (part2)

    by staff on January 26, 2012
    Take My Money

    Auction Buying Demystified ( part 2 )

    An Insider’s guide to the parlor tricks auctions use to separate you &  your money.

    In part 1, I reviewed the 4 very simple auction facts that most insiders don’t want you to know.

    They are:

    1. Auctions are designed to sell stuff. All. The. Stuff. Good, bad and even really bad stuff.
    2. Auctions are designed to sell items for more, not less, than it’s really worth.
    3. Auctions are designed to confuse you into making bad decisions and mistakes.
    4. Auctions are designed to get as much of your money as fast as possible with no possibility that you can ever get it back. (This is all done completely transparently and 100% legally.)

    In part 2, I’ll expose these top 4 auction secrets that net more and more pigeons every day. Here’s the good news. After you read this article, you’ll trade in your pigeon wings to some other sucker standing next to you who didn’t read it.

    Let’s start with the basics…

    (1) Auctions are designed to sell stuff. All the stuff. The good, bad and even really bad, stuff.

    All the Stuff
    All the Stuff.

    The main purpose of any action is to sell all the stuff. This includes all the good stuff, but what we’re concerned with here is all the bad stuff (I’m talking about the broken, manufacturer is out of business stuff). The next priority is to get the most money possible for the stuff on sale. The more bidders bidding the better the chances that the seller will obtain higher bids.

    All auctions are comprised of good and bad stuff. The good stuff is purposely dispersed evenly among all the bad stuff (filler) to keep as many people engaged for as long as possible. Unfortunately for you, they don’t have tags or any sign saying what’s good and what’s bad. Mixing the good and bad stuff together assures a steady stream of bidders from the beginning to the very end of the auction.

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    Auction Buying Demystified

    by staff on January 19, 2012
    Auction Bidding & Buying Secrets

    Auction Buying Demystified ( part 1 )

    An Insiders guide to buying the jewels while avoiding the junk at  auctions.

    Everyone likes a deal right? There’s always that chance that you’ll get something for nothing. You too can pay pennies on the dollar for prime merchandise. No other place gives the little guy the buying power of the professional than an auction…right?

    Not unless you believe in fairy tales! 

    I’ve been buying used material handling equipment at auctions for over 30 years. Over that period of time I have purchased literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment. The art is to find, bid for and buy the hidden jewels amongst a wide variety of worthless junk. I am about to share some of my best personal insights and advice on how to avoid ending up with the junk and avoid the parlor tricks designed to get you to overpay for the good stuff.

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    Announcing New SJF Mobile Website

    by admin on November 22, 2011

    SJF Launches Mobile Website

    SJF Mobile WebsiteToday, SJF announced its newly designed mobile website (m.SJF.com) has just gone live. Users who visit SJF.com from a mobile device will automatically get the mobile version of the SJF.com website.  This new mobile site represents what SJF feels is cutting edge technology – namely, applications and platforms for mobile computing.

    Kent Powell, head of the web development team for SJF said: “In developing this mobile application, we had two things in mind.  First was to take advantage of the medium to make contacting SJF as easy as possible from a mobile device.  The second was to provide our users with easy to access tools that they could use in the field that would help them with material handling operations.  These tools would facilitate easy identification and location of equipment they use on a daily basis.”

    Kent added, “We feel that we have accomplished both objectives and created an application that makes it easy to contact SJF as well as find information about the products that SJF has become known for.”

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